November 2, 2011 at 7:10 am
Hello,
As someone who is new to SQL Server and is thinking about hardware
requirements and how relative performance metrics change according to
differing elements of the hardware config, I was wondering which (if any)
particular element of a hardware setup affects SQL Server performance the
most.
For example, I was considering running SQL Server 2008 R2 Developer edition
on a 1.8Ghz Atom based small footprint server for my own personal use. The
Atom was appealing due to its low power consumption.
How much does raw CPU performance play in the overall performance profile
for SQL Server?
Would an Atom CPU coupled with a fast SSD (I.e. high performance I/O
sub-system) affect performance more significantly?
Or, does SQL run best with lots of RAM above all else? Now I understand that
having plenty of RAM, a super-fast CPU and high performance hard drive(s) is
obviously going to yield the best result, but I was interested to know which
of these three elements of hardware configuration matters the most.
Finally, as the Atom is capable of running 64-bit applications, how much performance on average may I gain from
going 64-bit?
Thanks
Steve
November 2, 2011 at 11:34 am
It depends on what you want to do. You've given no indication as to the nature of what you want to accomplish so it's impossible to give any specific feedback. How much data do you intent to support? How many transactions per hour do you expect? Is this for OLTP or marting or both? How many users will be querying the data? What sorts of queries do you expect: simple selects and aggregations, extensive statistical processing, etc.? Etc., etc., etc.
For someone trying to learn SQL Server, pretty much any modern PC will be just fine. For business applications to run against it, you would need to define exactly what you're wanting to do.
November 3, 2011 at 4:14 am
bteraberry (11/2/2011)
It depends on what you want to do. You've given no indication as to the nature of what you want to accomplish
I am simply tinkering with SQL - creating tables, indexes, views and the
like for personal use. I've created some large test tables and put SQL
through some tests to try and gauge how fast things work and as such I was curious as to what impact a lower power CPU would have as opposed to a faster HDD.
I appreciate that the choice of hardware elements will affect
performance more or less than others depending on usage patterns (e.g I'm guessing here that high numbers of users with relatively low quantities of data being read will probably be best served with emphasising RAM as a primary driver for performance).
bteraberry (11/2/2011)
For someone trying to learn SQL Server, pretty much any modern PC will be just fine. For business applications to run against it, you would need to define exactly what you're wanting to do.
Great. Do you have any idea what sort of across-the-board performance increase I might expect by going 64-bit? Or, does the benefits of 64-bit scale with usage and therefore low-end workloads such as those I would place on my personal server wouldn't show through?
Thanks for any insights you can offer.
November 3, 2011 at 6:51 am
raotor (11/3/2011)
Great. Do you have any idea what sort of across-the-board performance increase I might expect by going 64-bit?
Little to none. 64-bit isn't about raw performance, it's about the ease of addressing huge amounts of memory (where huge = > 4GB)
Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability
November 3, 2011 at 7:19 am
GilaMonster (11/3/2011)
raotor (11/3/2011)
Great. Do you have any idea what sort of across-the-board performance increase I might expect by going 64-bit?Little to none. 64-bit isn't about raw performance, it's about the ease of addressing huge amounts of memory (where huge = > 4GB)
I trust then that most SQL Server installations thesedays for even relatively moderate multi-user business needs will want to opt for 64-bit as 4Gb isn't considered a lot nowadays?
November 3, 2011 at 7:32 am
Yes, it is advisable to use 64 bit for any production DB Server.
-Roy
November 3, 2011 at 7:32 am
Absolutely. These days anyone running 32 bit SQL or OS needs a really good reason why. Even desktops are going full 64-bit (I've been running only 64-bit OS on my machines for a good couple years now)
Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability
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